Author's Note: Like Ryan Murphey, I'm from Indianapolis, where show choir is incredibly popular. I'm not a show-choir girl, but several of my friends are, so I know quite a bit about it – and although some things about Vocal Adrenaline look quite similar to stuff my school does, there are a few things about it that seem totally unrealistic. I decided to remedy the situation a little by injecting it with what I know of show choir and performing arts in general. So, enjoy.
EDIT 6/25/10 - fixed some sentences that bugged me. This story is still non-compliant with canon past Dream On.
Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, I don't claim to own it and am not making any money off this.
The Secret to Success: 20 Facts about Vocal Adrenaline
1. Vocal Adrenaline's most important strategy is psyching out the competition.
2. For instance, they don't actually practice for eight hours a day. That's only during Hell Week, when they first learn their new sets.
3. Other than that, they practice every night for three hours, in order to avoid killing their vocal cords or their limbs. Crazy as Corcoran is, she understands that if she wants to win, her show choir has to be healthy.
4. That's something Dakota knows too. When Corcoran got wind of New Directions' plan to steal him, she paid him extra to scare them off, and the diets and everything else are bullshit he came up with to do so. Dakota is hers, and therefore VA's, and there's no way in hell Corcoran is letting another group copy VA. Part of winning is standing out, and you can't do that if your choreography looks like someone else's.
5. The rumors about Dakota are just another of Corcoran's, and therefore Vocal Adrenaline's, ways to make everyone afraid of them.
6. Corcoran seems to have eyes everywhere. If it involves VA, she'll find out sooner or later.
7. If something involves any member, it automatically involves the entirety of VA. That's why Jesse told Corcoran about Rachel Berry an hour after their performance in the music store.
8. (And during practices, it's Corcoran, not Ms. Corcoran. The "Ms." takes up an extra fraction of a second that could be spent rehearsing, and Corcoran will take every possible second she can to rehearse.)
9. Even though Jesse is good, his absence won't devastate VA. A show choir is based on several people – the group is more than one person. Corcoran has other stars who can step up to fill Jesse's spot while he's gone.
10. However, every person is important to the group. Corcoran fully expects to have every single person pull his or her weight. That's why you have to audition – and be good – to be in VA. If you're incapable of doing the work, you can be in a lower choir, but you aren't allowed to drag VA down with your incompetence.
11. Girls – and some boys too, this is show choir – have been known to cry when the new member list for VA is posted every year.
12. Corcoran, of course, doesn't care.
13. Above all, Corcoran knows what she's doing. If she doesn't choose you for VA, it's not because she doesn't like you. Either you aren't ready yet and she wants to evaluate your potential before taking a risk, or she thinks you never will be good enough. Again, you aren't allowed to drag VA down by being incompetent. One flubbed dance move can cost the group a competition.
14. Most people don't really realize this. They just curse Corcoran for being a bitch and putting only her favorites in VA. They don't understand that Corcoran's favorites are the people who can actually sing.
15. That's the secret to VA's success. Every single person pulls his or her weight. No one shows up late, no one misses practice without a really good reason. Yeah, there's a significant amount of talent there, but hard work makes it what it is.
16. Sectional, Regional, State, National titles; they all matter to Corcoran. A lot. But she cares about the quality of the performance too. If VA had performed like McKinley had at Sectionals – looking completely unrehearsed, hasty, slightly off throughout – she would have been Pissed, with a capital P, whether they had won or not.
17. Sometimes Corcoran worries that certain members of VA – seniors who know nothing but national titles – feel entitled to win every competition they enter. Occasionally she catches certain of those members not pulling their weight, thinking that victory will just magically happen, that less work will yield the same results.
18. You do not want to be one of those people when Corcoran notices.
19. They're wrong, and she knows it. She had her wake-up call years ago, and she doesn't need a new one, even if the kids do. So she keeps pushing them, keeps planning bigger and better choreography with Dakota, keeps encouraging talent, keeps choosing songs to showcase VA's strengths and hide their weaknesses. She keeps making them practice, practice, practice. And partially because of her, VA keeps being good. The kids help too – some of them understand, and they push the group almost as hard as she does.
20. But despite the entitlement issues, winning all the time – and that's no small feat – has its perks. Everyone who knows Ohio show choir knows the name of Vocal Adrenaline. And because of this, the competition fears Vocal Adrenaline. Maybe it's not the most sportsmanlike way of winning, but Corcoran – and the members of Vocal Adrenaline – don't care. It helps keep them on top.